Justice League Beyond 2.0 #19 Review

Written by: Christos Gage
Art by: Dexter Soy
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: May 3, 2014

Rumble in the Watchtower

Last issue of JLB 2.0 ended with Lord Superman and his fellow Justice Lords stepping out of the Watch Tower teleporter looking for a fight.  Well, they found one.  A big one.  It's a battle royale of Hero vs Hero, but what makes it great, and a bit confusing, is that many are fighting their counterpart.  The Justice Lords seem more prepared for this and take advantage of the confusion.

The battle goes on and on with some nice action and even better dialogue, but the Justice Lords eventually prevail.  That's when the hammer falls on the secret plan of the Justice League.  Lord Superman learns of Batman heading to his timeline.  He doesn't know which Batman, but that doesn't bother him.  He's off to take care of the problem.  Terry better watch out!

The issue ends with Bruce finally doing what needed to be done, demanding answers from Wonder Woman.  Boy, they get an answer and it's huge.  The last panel shows that even Bruce Wayne isn't prepared for everything.

At first glance, this issue is just an extended fight.  It does show the ruthlessness of the Justice Lords as well as the little differences of the time lines.  Kind of like a Quarter Pounder versus a Royale with Cheese. However, Christos Gage also drives the plot of the overall arc forward by bringing his book and Kyle Higgins' Batman Beyond closer together.  Up until now, the two books told their own stories in an overreaching arc, but Lord Superman going after Terry should bring them into a more cohesive whole.  A great cohesive whole to boot.

Dexter Soy does a good job on art.  Heroes fighting themselves is always going to pose some problems and I was confused at points, but after a few times through I was good to go.  Soy's style fits the more epic feels of the book and I really love his Wonder Woman and Lord Superman

Bits and Pieces:

Justice League Beyond 2.0 #19 is more than just one big beat down.  Christos Gage leads the overall story into a more cohesive one and Batman Beyond is in real danger because of it.  Dexter Soy does a good job even if the battle is a bit confusing.  Overall this is an action packed chapter that has me wanting to see what happens next week...now.

8.5/10